Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Hakan Calhanoglu ran the show as Inter Milan trounced Red Star Belgrade 4-0 in the UEFA Champions League.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, as reported by FCInterNews, Simone Inzaghi’s tactical changes paid off massively.
Inzaghi’s hint at potential formational tweaks in the build-up to Tuesday’s must-win European game caused unrest among supporters.
Indeed, Inter haven’t been at their best at the start of their Serie A title defense.
Fresh off a hard-earned 3-2 league win against Udinese, Inzaghi felt it was time to give some of his overutilized stars a well-deserved rest.
And his decision was on the money.
Marko Arnautovic and Mehdi Taremi did their part in the attack, but Calhanoglu and Mkhitaryan excelled in the engine room.
While the former scored a sublime long-range free-kick to open the scoring, the latter chipped in with an electrifying performance.
Mkhitaryan’s energy was the missing component in the early Serie A campaign.
However, he silenced his critics with a brilliant display against Red Star.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan & Hakan Calhanoglu Excel As Inter Milan Tear Red Star to Pieces
With Nicolo Barella injured, other midfielders had to step up yesterday.
Piotr Zielinski returned to the starting XI for the first time since the Manchester City game. But his colleagues stole the show.
Calhanoglu’s playmaking skills were on full display. Indeed, the Turkish stars pulled all the strings in the middle of the pitch.
As for Mkhitaryan, there’s an argument that he could’ve avoided an early booking.
However, everything he did since was out of a top drawer.
Perhaps inspired by the dynamic duo’s excellency, Mehdi Taremi delivered his best performance in the Inter shirt yet.
In addition to finding his Nerazzurri breakthrough from the spot, the Iranian striker made two assists.
His contribution was crucial to setting Inter up for the win.